Suva, May 16 (IANS): Fiji has seen more than 48,000 international arrivals in the first quarter of this year, which has surged more than 10 times compared to about 4,000 in the same quarter in 2021.

According to Fijivillage news website on Monday, Minister for Tourism Faiyaz Koya said the island nation has welcomed a total of 72,132 visitors since the borders were reopened in December last year amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said this was good news as Fiji was on track to regain a portion of its market share and is already capturing approximately 30-35 per cent of its 2019 numbers.

He said the Fijian government expected these numbers to grow as it is the peak holiday season, and they are already seeing near pre-Covid levels of occupancy across some of the major brands where some have recorded high sales and profit.

The average occupancy recorded in the last week of April this year was 4 per cent more than the 2019 levels, he said, adding that room occupancy was near pre-pandemic levels last week after a lapse of two years.

Fiji Airways had also launched direct flights to Adelaide, Australia from July this year which will bring in more South Australian tourists to Fiji.

He added they have worked closely with the Ministry of Health to support the in-country testing system to establish a private sector-wide network of testing facilities.

The Minister said there are over 55 town and city testing centres and over 170 Care Fiji Commitment certified hotels and resorts with testing facilities available for all visitors.